Northbound Smokehouse is not a barbecue restaurant. The idea here is that almost everything on the menu includes some element that’s been smoked in-house. There’s a dip made with smoked artichokes, poutine built on smoked cheese curds, a salad that incorporates smoked beets… as well as more traditional items like smoked fish, beef, and even some pulled pork.

Yep, we’re in Minnesota. Wild rice is everywhere, even in the beer.

We just stopped in for a couple of brews: the house IPA is called Big Jim, a big 7.2% beer that supplements the hop punch with rich maltiness, resulting in an unusual, for an IPA, deep amber color. The Smokehouse Porter is black but light bodied and very easy to drink. They say that 5% of the malt is smoked in-house, and while it probably adds to the flavor, the beer does not taste smoky.